(CNN) - If Republicans suffer losses in next year's mid-term elections because of the recent partial government shutdown, Sen. Ted Cruz said Senate Republicans–not Democrats–will be responsible.

"The single-most damaging thing that has happened to Republicans for 2014 is all of the Senate Republicans coming out, attacking the House Republicans, attacking those pushing the effort to defund Obamacare and lining themselves up opposite of the American people," Cruz told CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash in an interview in San Antonio.Follow @politicaltickerFollow @KilloughCNN

His comments, which aired Monday on "New Day," come as a new CNN/ORC International survey indicates that more than half of the country is displeased with Republicans holding majority power in the House.

According to the poll, 54% say it's a bad thing that the GOP controls the House, up 11 points from last December, soon after the 2012 elections when the Republicans kept control of the chamber. Only 38% say it's a good thing the GOP controls the House, a 13-point dive from the end of last year.
Cruz to CNN: ‘I don’t work for the party bosses in Washington’

This is the first time since Republicans won back the House in the 2010 elections that a majority of people say GOP control of the chamber is bad for the country.

Cruz helped lead the conservative Republican strategy to attach anti-Obamacare provisions to must-pass spending legislation this fall. With the support of the White House, the Democratic-controlled Senate refused to take up anything that tried to dismantle the president's signature health care law.

Many Senate Republicans rebuked the effort led by Cruz, a first-year senator who was elected in 2012, and they privately and publicly discouraged the senator from pursuing the tactic.

"It was a fool's errand to start with. It was never going to succeed," Sen. John McCain said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

McCain didn't single out Cruz but blamed "the whole effort" instead.

"Keep up the fight against Obamacare. But don't shut down the government and have so much collateral damage," the Arizona Republican added.

Some argue Cruz's strategy was taken in part to raise money for conservative groups that back primary challengers. One group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which supported Cruz last year, raised $2.1 million in September–a large amount for a nonelection year.

Asked if his effort was a money-making enterprise, Cruz said: "Not remotely."

The Texas Republican said he's "hopeful" Senate Republicans will change.

"I am hopeful there will be some time, some reflection, and that Senate Republicans will come back. Come back to the principles they believe and they campaigned on. I'm hopeful we'll actually put action behind the campaign promises," he said.

In the Senate, Democrats hold 55 seats, including two independents who caucus with the Democrats, while Republicans hold 45. Democrats are defending 21 of the 35 seats up for grabs next year, with Republican defending 14.

soundoff(827 Responses)

This is the pot calling the kettle black. This guy is unfit to represent anyone in america.

October 21, 2013 03:03 pm at 3:03 pm |

Jfuzzy

Senator Ted Cruz, YOU are the problem, not the senate republicans or the democrats, it is you and the tea party that caused the government shutdown!!!!!!!

IT IS TIME TO DEFUND THE TEA PARTY AND GET RID OF EXTREME RIGHT WING RADICAL REPUBLICANS TEA PARTY POLITICIANS LIKE SENATOR TED CRUZ AND SENATOR MARCO RUBIO! THE REPUBLICAN LED CONGRESS IS DYSFUNCTIONAL AND NEEDS TO BE REMOVED!!!!

Can Texas do a recall on this guy? No, I'm serious. He's mentally unstable. He is not living in reality. He's done obvious and deliberate harm to our economy, to ALL of us. He is in a position of great power and he is not mentally stable. Can someone tell me if impeachment or recall or a medical/psychological issue can be used to get rid of this guy? This isn't about differences of opinion on issues. I get that he's all against Obama, Obamcare, democrats, etc. He's going about doing his job in a way that should be considered to be sedition or treasonous. Now I've heard all sorts of right wingers talk about wanting to impeach Obama for,well, I don't know, but in this guy's case his actions have demonstrated a malicious disregard for the well being of all of us. I can't say this strongly enough...can we, somehow get rid of him legally? Recall? Removal by the senate? What options do we have. He can still do untold damage in the future. ONE senator can hold up any appointment or piece of legislation. I'm not sure WHY that can be the case but it is. If he were a congressman he wouldn't have that kind o power, but he is a US senator and DOES have that kind of power. He's SHOWN us what he will do. We can NOT afford to have him in the US Senate. Texas! Help us clean up your mess!

October 21, 2013 03:11 pm at 3:11 pm |

Determined

Figures, It's never the people causing the problems fault, but everyone else that didn't go along with their stupidity.
YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!
Cruz you and the rest of the idiots need a reality check. Hopefully those that voted you and the rest of the incompetent fools in office will realize the tea party's true nature and correct their mistake.
You need to get a job at Walmart with no benifits

October 21, 2013 03:11 pm at 3:11 pm |

mb2010a

No, Ted. The problem is You and your so-called Republican/tea baggers. Period. End of story.

October 21, 2013 03:11 pm at 3:11 pm |

Russ

Yes, Ted and his cohorts are nuts. But the people who elected them are the ones to blame. The Tea Party ran on a platform of shutting down Washington. They have done a great job of keeping their campaign promises – a first for most politicians!

Get rid of these destructive politicians!

October 21, 2013 03:12 pm at 3:12 pm |

roscoeB

Ted Cruz is standing over the corpse of the GOP, a knife in one hand and a smoking gun in the other, He is drooling and covered in oil (the GOP bleeds oil), and yet he is shouting, "Some other guys did it".

October 21, 2013 03:12 pm at 3:12 pm |

NATHAN WIMBERLY

Rapheal Cruz trying to shift the blame away from himself where it squarely belongs. Keep talkin Rapheal. 2014 comes quickly for all of you wingnuts.

He's partly right. The problem is the Senate Republicans and the House Republicans, including Ted Cruz.

October 21, 2013 03:16 pm at 3:16 pm |

Ol' Yeller

I for one am a bit offended at the te abagg ers stealing the Boston Tea Party's monikor as their own. For one, the perpetrators of the 'Boston Tea Party' had real reasons for their drunken actions. They were being taxed by a government in which they had no avenue to elect a represenative or be heard. These te abagg ers have always been represented, or had an avenue for representation (elections). They 'all of the sudden' decided to surface (coincidentally with the election of our first black President) to complain about being 'taxed enough already (TEA- get it?) and initially called themselves te abagg ers until they realized why all of us were laughing behind our hands.
Point being – taxes are as low as they have been in 50 years. It amazes me that 'taxes' all of the sudden became an issue with these folks. They have every right to vote and send represenation to Congress... however they shouldn't have the right to send such incompetent windbags such as cruz and his cronies in the house with no idea how the American system of government even works; and to screw up our Nation and bring us to the point of bancruptcy for the first time in or Nation's history due to their ignorance.
Texas... send you a conservative elected official to Congress (if your demo graphics hold for another cycle)... even Perry... he may be dumb, but someone can count for him and maybe he will actually listen- (The answer is 3, yes 3- 3 What? -- I dunno, but it is 3). But please do not send this self serving, lying sack of SHate back to Washington. Not if you really love America.

October 21, 2013 03:16 pm at 3:16 pm |

duke

What is still alarming is that it is not 100% of all Americans that think this guy and the T-party is bad for our country. But I guess you will always have parts of the US that are still backwards and long for the days where only they were more "equal" than others...

October 21, 2013 03:16 pm at 3:16 pm |

Get rid of all of them

How much longer do they point fingers before they work together and start towards solving a thing or two? His fault, her fault, their fault, no their fault – I feel like elementary school all over again. Why is it always tons of finger pointing instead of get over it, let's try something else? Never ending news of who is pointing at who. I don't have tv channels, – but reading the internet news is mind dumbing stupid! Sadly from the comments I see finger pointing is popular. It must be what folks want to hear. So, where to go to see if there are any bright stars that aren't corrupted yet, stars that have an idea to try? Pres Obama seems like a nice guy but wrong guy for the tasks – Who do we research next?

October 21, 2013 03:17 pm at 3:17 pm |

Ivar

Old strategy: tell a big lie and tell it often. Joe McCarthy enjoyed great popularity in the early 50s.
I miss the old, functional Republican Party. Can they sue the Tea Party for being scary bullies?
They have to derail Affordable Care before it happens and people find out the GOP was wrong. Yeah, it will take fixing. So did social security, medicare?, you bet, big time, but work with it. Get ready for the smoke screen of Obama being a Muslim, Benghazi, the web site glitches....the GOP is going to have to empty the garbage truck now, because they have nothing else left.

October 21, 2013 03:18 pm at 3:18 pm |

Sum guy

I'm Republican and I'm pretty sure Ted Cruz is a tool.

October 21, 2013 03:18 pm at 3:18 pm |

JerseyJeff78

Wow.

How about Cruz missing the point and the obvious lesson here?

He could quite possibly be the most obtuse politician ever to have the pleasure of serving in Washington.

October 21, 2013 03:20 pm at 3:20 pm |

raul c.

You mean this clown caused the USA to lose $24B in business due to the shutdown. I would ship him back to his roots in Cuba but then he would be put to jail in Cuba if he did what he in the USA.